The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del CloseChicago Review Press, 01/04/2008 - 416 páginas Nichols and May. John Belushi. Bill Murray. Chris Farley. Tina Fey. Mike Myers. Stephen Colbert. For nearly a half century, Del Close—cocreator of the Harold, director for the Second City, San Francisco's the Committee, and the ImprovOlympic, and “house metaphysician” for Saturday Night Live—influenced improvisational theater's greatest comedic talents. His students went on to found the Groundlings in Los Angeles, the Upright Citizens Brigade in both New York and Los Angeles, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. But this Pied Piper of improv has gone largely unrecognized outside the close-knit comedy community. Del was never one to let the truth of his life stand in the way of a good story—and yet the truth is even more fascinating than the fiction. In his early years, he traveled the country with Dr. Dracula's Den of Living Nightmares, knew L. Ron Hubbard before Scientology, and appeared in The Blob. Del cavorted with the Merry Pranksters, used aversion therapy to recover from alcoholism, and kicked a cocaine habit with the help of a coven of witches. And when he was dying, Del bequeathed his postmortem skull to the Goodman Theatre for use in its productions of Hamlet—a final legend that lives on, long beyond the death of the father of long-form improvisation. |
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The Lives and Legends of Del Close Kim Howard Johnson. " Del wasn't a conventional teacher . He rarely said ' Do this . Don't do that . ' Rather , you learned through some freaky osmosis by just being around this unique man . Johnson's ...
... Del Close did not live a life particularly suitable for a conventional endorsement blurb. It is nevertheless an ... Del Close is the most unrecognized and yet most influential comedian in the last fifty years.” —Matt Besser, founding ...
... Del Close is the best,” DePollo told me. “If you ever have a chance to work with Del, take it.” Del had achieved his greatest notoriety in recent years for directing the Second City, “discovering” many of the improvisers who had blazed ...
... Del Close , " said Mike , and we shook hands . " And this is his partner , Charna Halpern . ” " Are you a comic book writer ? " asked Del . “ Actually , I do most of my writing for Starlog magazine , ” I explained , and when he looked ...
The Lives and Legends of Del Close Kim Howard Johnson. It didn't take long to start collecting Del stories. The picture that began to emerge was confusing and sometimes contradictory, occasionally unflattering yet larger than life in a ...
Índice
1 | |
22 | |
36 | |
44 | |
62 | |
77 | |
7 Stongehenge and a Skate Through the Sewers | 95 |
8 The Merry Pranksters and My Mother the Car | 109 |
17 The ImprovOlympic | 239 |
18 Roaches in the Dental Floss | 251 |
19 The Return of the Harold the Barons Barracudas and Charna | 267 |
20 The Brain of the Galaxy | 285 |
21 Chris Farley The Blob and Farewell to Second City | 300 |
22 Workshops Reunions and the Family | 316 |
23 Close Youve Gone Sane | 331 |
24 The Party | 350 |
With the Committee in San Francisco | 118 |
10 The Birth of Harold Spidering and a Pornographic Western | 132 |
11 Pretty Much a Blur | 153 |
Belushi and the Bean Can | 165 |
13 Valium Vitriol and Ancient Egyptian Opium | 175 |
14 The Clockwork Orange Treatment | 193 |
15 Junkies Give the Best Shots | 208 |
16 Saturday Night Live Tennessee Williams and the Cleanup | 220 |
25 Curtain Call | 364 |
Bibliography | 376 |
Notes | 377 |
Interviews | 386 |
Acknowledgments | 389 |
Works of Del Close | 393 |
Index | 410 |
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The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close Kim Johnson Pré-visualização indisponível - 2008 |